This invention is concerned with the production of molded articles and the invention is concerned with the production of molded articles from materials recovered as a by-product from a main process, such as waste derived from a process for making coated paper products.
It is current practice in the production of paper coated with synthetic plastic materials, which are commonly used for containers, such as milk cartons and drinking cups, to take the waste material and subject it to a treatment to recover as much as possible of the cellulose fiber and to re-use that fiber in a paper making process. A typical process for the recovery of such fiber from scrap or waste material is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,050 issued Apr. 6, 1971 to John C. Rice the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this specific reference. With that process, the material remaining after the fiber has been recovered comprises the synthetic plastic material impregnated with that portion of the fibers which cannot be removed and, in certain instances, also a metallic foil which is sometimes incorporated in the production of the coated or laminated paper products. In the past, this material has been discarded. The conventional methods of being rid of this waste material have been either burning, in which case the material is used as a supplementary fuel since it has a rather large caloric content, or it has been buried or used as land fill. It has generally not been considered possible to recycle the plastic material because it is contaminated with fiber and foil.
The present invention proposes that this material be utililzed to produce molded articles. It is also proposed that thermoplastic material contaminated other than with a fibrous material, such as that contaminated, for example, with dyestuffs and various other additives be uded to produce molded articles and in that production, fibrous material, preferably also a by-product, could be added for reinforcement.